After woe has come and evil has done its worst...

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Devotions: Ps 71, 74; Jer 4:9-10, 19-28; Rom 2:12-24; Jn 5:19-29

Lord, I take refuge in You; let me never be put to shame. Deliver me by Your righteousnesss and rescue me from the hands of the wicked. I praise You all day and all night long, for God is good, and He comforts me despite the worst the world can do against me. Thank You, my God! Let Your anger smoke against all enemies, and put the scoffers to shame!

God said that courage would fail both kings and princes, priests and prophets alike. For God's judgment is terrifying! How my heart is beating! Disaster follows disaster; I am frightened, but I will trust in YHWH nonetheless. Let woe come and evil do its worst; yet, God will succor and deliver His own. This will be my testimony now and forever.

Those who sin apart from the law perish without the law; it is only those who do what the law commands who are justified. The requirements of the law are written on human hearts, and our consciences bear witness even when we are not Torah scholars. But woe to those who fancy themselves legal scholars, yet do not fulfill every requirement of the law. The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of this! He is a Jew who is one inwardly; real circumcision is a matter of the heart—spiritual, not merely literal. Such a person is praised by God, and needs no praise from mortals.

Jesus told those hearing Him, 'Truly, truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, but only what He sees the Father doing; whatever He does, the Son does also. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everthing that the Father Himself is doing. You'll see Him do greater works than the ones you have witnessed so far, and you will marvel. As the Father raises and dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever He will. The Father has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son cannot honor the Father Who sent Him. Truly, truly I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him Who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. I tell you truly, the hour has come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of man. Don't marvel at thise, for othe hour is coming when all in the tombs will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment.